A pocket of Snow
by Digital Dive
Summary: A winter season themed two-shot fic starring every rukato lovers favorite couple, not really a big plot to the story but enjoyable to read none-the-less
1. Chapter 1

**Hello and thanks for reading my story, now before we begin I would like to say the following. I do not nor will I ever probably own anything from any cooperation or conglomerate, especially not Bandai. Rukato is my hobby and my favorite coupling, I have others but I do not write about them as often.**

**This is a two-shot fic, I am starting my works out slowly.**

**Okay now that we have that squared away here, we go!**

* * *

_The season of winter. For people around the world, this is most often seen as a time of great joy as well as sorrow. A time of death when the warmth of fresh spring air lies sleeping underneath a blanket of ice. A time of peace on earth and yearly building of anticipation for the holidays, when the hearts of others can be either shared, or broken. - unknown  
_

The story begins within the Tokyo regional ward of Shinjuku, the day before Christmas. No, rather it actually begins in a particular location in this city of Shinjuku, a place known as the Shinjuku Gyoen. It is here we come across a somewhat unusual site, if you're a foreigner that is, a small group of children playing together in the snow that continually fell from the clouds. Now normally such a thing would hardly seem like anything to get worked up about, unless of course you were to count the gaggle of strange monsters that were playing with them. But for this group of children, or rather should we say tamers, seeing monsters like them was practically a daily thing now.

"Hey Henry, what did one snowman say to the other snowman… smells like carrots! Get it?" A certain long-eared rabbit joked atop a mess of green hair belonging to his human partner, said human rolling his eyes at the completely random and inappropriate humor of his digimon before the thought that the rabbit might have somehow caught a case of brain freeze crossed his mind, but he shook it off and delivered his trademark reply.

"Terriermon."

Terriermon was quick to retort with a simple what question but seeing Henry's gaze had already shifted away from him, simply turned around and grumbled a bit about a certain someone not having a sense of humor. Henry chuckled a bit while leaning against the bark of a frozen tree like he always did, and watched the others as they played around in the snow, rubbing his arms every so often, as his green sweater did not seem to produce enough heat to keep him warm for long.

Nearby him stood a cement structure, which had come to serve as a nostalgic reminder of all their adventures in the digital world, the loss of their partners, and most importantly served as a makeshift home to everyone's favorite saurian _Hard to believe that parasimon incident was only a few months ago.  
_

Indeed, it was certainly difficult to think that things had quieted down this quickly after the destruction and chaos created by the foreign digimon in only a short period when it felt like that whole event had only happened just yesterday. Even now the memory was still freshly imprinted into Henry's mind, and he saw it whenever he closed his eyes. The screaming people, the insane locomotive digimon, The hordes of parasitic creatures raining down from the sky out of a giant digital gate, his own little mix-up with his digimon and his sisters, yes Henry could remember it all so well. Yet it was still so surprising how fast the repairs had been made, and how people had returned to their daily lives and seemingly forgotten the whole incident (He suspected Yamaki might have had something to do with it, but he wasn't about to just ask the man.) What was even more surprising was that after everything that happened they could still have days of normality like this, but of course life must go on.

Henry shook his head a little to clear out the rambling thoughts, he was probably just thinking about these things too much. For now it was better to just ignore them and focus more on spending some time with his friends, speaking of which Henry crooned his neck a bit to look around Guilmons shed and spotted the feint outline of another fellow tamer. The esteemed digimon queen Rika Nonaka as she casually leaned against the left side of the shed, she like him was also dressed warmly for the season, something he found a little ironic since considering how a few people had secretly compared her with being an ice queen behind her back. _Of course none of them would be willing to admit to it when she's around I'll bet. _Above her, the vulpine digimon that was her partner, Renamon, sat silently observing everything from atop a nearby branch her faced betrayed no emotion in its stoic gaze.

Nearby Rika some of the younger members of the team, mainly Suzie, Calumon, and surprisingly the siblings Ai and Mako, were playing in the snow along with another of the older kids, the only one of them who did not seem to have a partner with her, Jeri Katou. They were apparently trying to make the worlds largest snowman and Calumon had even invented a game for said event. He and Lopmon were balancing themselves on top of two large snowballs, somehow without crushing the soft powder underneath their weight, then using their feet to roll the balls across the ground to make them bigger. Though Lopmon had almost fallen off three times, Jeri though was helping Suzie to make the base of the snowman while Ai and Mako collected small pebbles and sticks for the body.

Henry felt a small smile tug at his face when he saw how happy they all looked, especially Jeri, poor girl had already been through enough this year, and it was good to see her smile like that every now and then. In fact, everyone seemed to brighten up when the girl smiled; it almost seemed to make him feel… Henry quickly stopped that train of thought, shaking his head vigorously (and nearly causing Terriermon to fall off). Before putting up a mental sign over it with the words 'Keep out', no need to let his imagination run wild like a certain Goggleheads would. Unfortunately this attracted the unwanted attention of Terriermon again as his eyes quickly fell on his tamer in shock to what had caused the abrupt ride

"Hey Henry, what was that for!?"

His black eyes darted to the direction he had been looking in before an idea formed within his warped little bunny mind and a sly smile crossed his face.

"Oh I see, checking out the girls Henroid? Wow I didn't know you had it in you, though I think a few are a little too young and the rest are already taken."

This lecherous comment apparently acquired the desired effect as Henry felt the heat in his face go up tenfold, why was it suddenly so warm in this sweater? Ignoring the sudden rush of blood to his head Henry was quick to respond, though not as calmly as before.

"T-Terriermon!"

BAM!

What happened next was completely unexpected on both parts, instead of Henry actually reprimanding (meaning strangling) his partner and instead of Terriermon coming back with a witty reply, from nowhere a snowball suddenly flew across the air and smacked Terriermon in the head. The force not only stunned the rabbit digimon but it also managed to knock him off Henry and down unto a soft landing in a pile of snow, his little legs kicked open air for a few seconds before he managed to push himself out of the pile.

His face looked oddly reminiscent to a scene to one of those old-fashioned Christmas cartoons where a person looks like they have a beard made of snow and a Christmas cap on their heads. Henry couldn't help himself he actually laughed at that it was just so, so hilarious!

His laughter drew the attention of the others, including Renamon since it wasn't often that they actually heard the henry laugh at anything. Needless to say, when they saw what happened to Terriermon, they started laughing as well, both Calumon and Lopmon fell off their snowballs just when they were finished; even Rika and Renamon cracked a smile at the display, although it was a bit harder to tell with Renamon. Unfortunately, Terriermon did not find his situation the least bit humorous as he angrily shook his head and kicked off the snow, his face gave off the impression of an angry pug Henry had seen once.

"Alright who threw that?! C'mon, I'll take you all on and not give an inch! Now, here on this ragged patch of frozen earth called Shinjuku, your hordes face obliteration!"

_Someone's been watching too much 300 again _Henry thought before his eyes caught something, another one of the frozen projectiles falling from an even higher altitude and heading straight for him, or to be more precise his buttocks. Thinking quickly Henry simply stepped to the left a bit so that the heinous thing whizzed right by him and humorously smacked Terriermon in the face for the second time. Henry raised an eyebrow as his partner began cursing in several colorful epithets much too mature for the young ears present. Thankfully Jeri had already covered Suzie's ears with her gloved mittens, blocking out the bunny's ranting while Ai and Mako had strangely already covered their own ears and Calumon, he'd gone and buried himself in a pile of snow. Henry choose to not ask questions and instead decided that he would need to have a long conversation with Terriermon later, after all Silence is golden but duck tape is silver.

Unsurprisingly this display had not gotten a reaction from the other tamer as she merely watched uninterested as Terriermon continued talking about things she was sure she did not want to know where he had gotten them from. She was almost hoping that another snowball would fall from the sky any moment now and go for strike three, but alas, fate is too cruel sometimes for there was no more which came and now she would be forced to endure this ranting rabbit for a while longer... Or would she?

"Hey Brainiac, I'm gonna go see where that snowball came from, coming Renamon?"

The fox materialized from nowhere and stood before her with a look of distain presently visible on her face "As if you need to ask, with all this racket I'm sure to do something I may or may not regret later."

As the pair trudged through the snow (or in renamon's case leapt from tree to tree) they noticed that Jeri was talking the younger Tamers into playing their game somewhere else while Terriermon was now being held back by Henry as his furious ravings grew more persistent. Once Rika even thought she heard him say something along the lines of paying her to kick the crap out of the unlucky souls Yeah right, as if I would stoop so low as to work for that rabbit.

Still though this could prove to be quite interesting and maybe even provide her with some entertainment, she was starting to get bored doing nothing but watch everyone else.

* * *

Meanwhile a short distance away a contest of skill and bravery was taking place, a monumental competition to which only the best of the best could prove to endure. The trademark of all Olympic related sports events, which could separate the boys from the men.

"Heads UP!"

__

Smack!

The crumbling snowball slid from Kenta's back as he coiled around to deliver his pitch. His own snowball whizzed through the air at amazing speed; splattering against the neck of a warmly dressed Takato. He fell to the ground like a carnival target, and lay still staring up into the bleak silver clouded sky. While Kazudelivered another round at Guilmon, who this time dodged, laughing; and dived behind a small hill of snow. "Wait Guilmon! Come back here you coward!" Kazu boasted, picking up more white ammunition with his hands. He heaped all the snow he gathered together into one semi-huge ball and threw it at Guilmon's makeshift fortress. While Guardromon stood behind him trying his best to block a double-sided barrage from both Kenta and Ryo, yet the poor rust-colored robot could only shield Kazu so much with his hulking body and slow movements.

"I say that was uncalled for Really now, can't we just get along without pummeling each other?"

While this was going on Takato Picked himself up and took a moment to survey his friends, Kenta was now close enough to bombard Guilmon with a pile of snowballs while the Saurian tried his best to counterattack but claws weren't nearly as effective in gathering snow as real hands. Kenta was still tying to take out Guardromon's legs and Ryo, well Takato found it simply amazing how they had managed to get him to join in their little game at all, especially considering how often said tamer and pronounced digimon king would have to run off and leave them to keep his digimon under control. Speaking of Cyberdramon they had tried to get him to play as well but every time a snowball hit a piece of his armor he would growl so menacingly at them that finally Ryo just decided to let him stand behind some of the trees they were using to block snowballs and just as he put it 'Cool' off.

As Takato continued to watch them all, his eyes fell upon a certain small, pink seahorse like digimon called MarineAngemon. The little thing was trying to get in on the fun with his own snowball but the thing was unfortunately seemed to heavy for him, probably because his body was only a few inches bigger than the snowball he was currently trying to hold onto in his little flipper like arms. A sudden snowball from Guilmon shot through the air, apparently the baby dragon had been trying to hit Kazu from close range but had accidentally thrown his own snowball too hard. Sadly, it instead hit the tiny digimon square in the back of the head, causing him to drop the snowball he had worked hard on and let out a series of "PipipiPiPi" at the coldness. "hey!" Kenta panicked and moved to gently wipe the melting snowball from MarineAngemon's body, making sure his partner was not hurt by the icy sting, then retaliated with a throw of his own icy weapon. "You leave him outta this!" Kazu, thinking Kenta had been talking to him turned his head to say "Wha-" before he too received a blow from one of the few snowballs that had actually gotten past his own digimon.

The robotic digimon saw this occur and was quick to cease blocking Ryo's snowballs (not that he actually needed to anymore since Ryo had fallen on the ground laughing at what happened) and frantically head toward his partner saying "Kazu! They have breached the border, should we call in a retreat?"

Takato found himself chuckling at the antics of his very unique friends, though a small part of him dearly wished for another to be here with him to share this with. _Jeri _He thought as the previous bliss appeared to fade a little, it wasn't as if anything was wrong no, no, no they were still great friends and eventually he had hopes for them becoming something more but lately, it just... seemed like Jeri only had intentions of being friends with him, and now he wasn't even sure if there could be more to them than what they already had. Another factor was lately he caught himself frequently feeling less and less embarrassed whenever they talked together, and he could clearly see that certain subjects made her extremely uncomfortable and were better left avoided.

Before this train of thought could stretch on, Takato suddenly caught a shadow of movement just out the corner of his eye, _Oh no you don- Rika! _He had quickly grabbed a handful of snow and mashed it into a perfect little spherical weapon then a split second later spun around to intercept his would be attacker only to come face to face with Rika Nonaka herself, AKA his dream girl. Dumbly dropping the snowball he only continued to stared wide-eyed at the girl while she in turn looked at him with her arms crossed and a "What are you looking at?" kind of look on the parts of her face not covered by the scarf she wore.

After the initial shock wore off, Takato managed to get his thoughts together long enough to speak clearly "Rika, hey it's um... imagine meeting you here, what uh, I wasn't about to throw a snowball at you if that's what your thinking."

The redhead allowed a coy smile to cross her lips, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to see it, crossed her arms together and replied with her usual sarcasm "Oh really? Then would you mind explaining why you even had a snowball in your hands in the first place hmm." Takato gave an audible gulp, not seeming to catch the playfulness in her tone at first "Nothing! I was doing nothing! Yeah that's it; I was just going to... make a snow cone!" He laughed a bit nervously, not that he was actually afraid of Rika, no if anything he knew he could trust the girl more with his life than fear her. It was just that talking with her like this tended to make him a bit nervous, it had happened before when he first visually met her, and again when she appeared in that alleyway, in fact he seemed to have a problem just talking with other girls in general but especially her.

Rika raised an eyebrow at his excuse, that had to be the most ridiculous one he had come up with yet. However, before she could think about another thing to say, her eyes suddenly noticed something about the ground Takato was standing on, was it moving? She looked again and it definitely seemed like the snow and twigs were shuffling slightly as if something large was moving them from underground. Takato caught her staring and started thinking _Um,_ _Why is she looking at my feet? _Before his gaze followed hers and he also saw the grounds movements. Though afore he could say anything the frozen sod beneath him suddenly exploded and threw him backwards while Guilmons head popped out followed by the rest of him, he sloppily dug himself out form the snow tunnel he had built and then sniffing the air caught Takato's scent and turned to find him laying sprawled out a few feet from his tail. Arms stretched out and a look out horror stuck to his face, Guilmon lowered his ears and moved closer to Takato as Rika just stood there silent at the surprise appearance of the young dino.

"Takatomon, why are you laying on the ground like Terriermon whenever someone says princess prettypants?"

Takato did not respond to that but merely blinked, once then twice. His arms then relaxed and fell before he pushed himself back up into a sitting position and looked around scratching his head, as if he had already forgotten both his digimon's question and what he had even been he finally noticed the presence of his self-made digimon and said cheerfully "Oh hey Guilmon, when did you get here?" Noting the digimons uncertain glance Rika let out a silent sigh at this then she walked right up to the confused boy and extended her gloved hand out toward his face. "Geez your such a gogglehead sometimes." Ignoring the blush that threatened to emerge full bloom on his cheeks, Takato sheepishly grabbed her hand and allowed Rika to pull him back up to his feet, although he noticed it was a little too easily done.

As Takato was hauled upright by Rika he regained his previous nervous look yet he did not speak out, Rika too had fallen silent as she glanced at her friend her thought centered around his behavior _What's wrong with him, I know Gogglehead gets like this when he talks to Jeri but he acts like I'm going to bite his head off or something. _it had become something of an awkward moment as you can imagine for both fellow tamers, as neither was able to bring themselves to say another word and Guilmon only looked back and forth between them confused.

_This, this is not right, one of us should at least say something otherwise this will end the same way as before._The thought continued to weave itself within the over-active mind of one Takato Matsuki, he remembered far too well the long-lost look on her face while she stared off into the sunset, it somehow felt like a part of him had been in pain that day, yet why would he have felt like that? Yes, he cared for Rika immensely, after all she was practically family to him so such a feeling was to be expected, but he did think of her as anything else... Right?

Deciding to hopefully break the ice between them, Takato decided to try a different approach with the conversations. "So... uh Guilmon, what were you doing in the snow anyway?" The dino's ears perked up at his tamers question and he was more than happy to give a reply "I was trying to get away from Kazu, so I dug my way out from under him and I dug, and dug but it was really cold and mushy and I wasn't sure where I was, then I heard someone talking and decided to find them, then I popped out and found you laying on the ground Takato." Rika felt herself give a grin at the digimons story while Takato only made a silly face like someone who wished they had not even asked in the first place before the eggshell of a fresh idea hatched itself in his mind.

"Say Guilmon I've got an idea, why don't you go and play a bit with Renamon, I'm sure she'd be a big help in hiding from Kazu."

"Okie Dokie."

Turning toward the female member of their group the curious saurian asked "Rika where is Renamon?" Rika cast her gaze upward, as if she had given some invisible signal the bipedal fox appeared on the tree branch above her. The vulpine digimon turned to look at her partner with a serious expression _Rika are you sure something this would be okay?_Rika did not even seem phased by the question _Relax Renamon, there haven't been any sightings of wild digimon in the area lately and besides._ She added with a bit of humor _You could use the exorcise._Renamon could sense the playfulness behind her partner's words and thus seemed more amused at her thoughts then insulted; she nodded once, her last thought made itself known to her tamer, _As you wish then_and disappeared only to reappear a few seconds later in front of Guilmon. Both he and Takatohad confused looks on their faces, unsure of what had actually transpired between the two since neither possessed the unique form of mental connection they shared.

Renamon gave Guilmon a quick glimpse of her eyes, seeing his confusion melt away like wax into adapt playful expression he always wore when there was fun to be had. His ears perked up again encouragingly, in her eyes his posture could almost be mistaken for the various dogs she had seen begging their owners to come and play games with them during the summers Rika would come to the park. "Well then Guilmon shall we be going now?" Her question appeared to excite Guilmon more so than she originally had thought he had already been for her fellow digimon had the sudden need to grab her by the arm and almost pull it off dragging her away from their respective the notion of leaving Rika alone like that was not something Renamon would have considered doing in the past, now was different she knew that Rika was not in any danger and if the need should arise she would be there by Rika's side in a moment. _It's not as though I do not trust Takato to be in her presence, quite the contrary_ c_onsidering it is him she is with, I believe I actually have little to worry about at all._

But alas deep within the mind of Renamon a single seed of doubt continued to grow, irking her thoughts with its incessant ploy. Was there another reason why Takato had suggested that she play this romp of hide and seek with Guilmon? And if so what could he possible be thinking of doing _Perhaps I should... no, no then I would seem distrustful of Rika's, maybe I am just over thinking this a bit, after all it is Takato. Still no matter how much I try to dismiss it I cannot seem to put my mind at ease, hmm just to be safe I think I will linger about to keep an eye on things._

Renamon was so in depth to her thinking that she did not realize just how far away Guilmon was planning to hide as they moved around the trees, though by the time she did it probably would not have mattered at that point.

* * *

"So anyway, what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Takato asked as they walked, they had decided it was a bit too noisy with the snowball fight going on between their friends and so here they were, he was obviously trying to steer the conversation away from the earlier embarrassing memory still fresh nside their minds and Rika decided to humor him,  
besides she had nothing else to do here except stand around and watch her breath float like smoke from a chimney.

"I just came out here to see where the flying snowballs were coming from."

"Why?"

"Cause about two of them landed on Terriermon and he's throwing a hissy fit because of it." _That must have been one of the ones I threw_ Takato thought imaging what the little rabbits face must look like while bringing a smile to his own. "Huh that must have been interesting."

"Don't think about it too hard Goglehead, wouldn't want you to overdo it and kill off those few brain cells you've got left."

Takato cringed a bit, that nervous butterfly's-in-your-stomach kind of feeling had not yet left him from when and now it only seemed to only grow worse. _What the heck is wrong with me?_ He pondered, unsure as to what he might say next, this was definitely not going to be easy, especially with the way she was now. Deciding to just go ahead and wing he opened his mouth to say the first thing that came to mind.

"Hey Rika."

"What is it Gogglehead?"

"Um... you know I was the one who threw one of those snowballs earlier."

Rika turned and looked at Takato with her arms over her head like he had just said the most riduculous thing ever. "And why did you want to tell me something like that?" Takato just smiled nervously and said "I don't know really, I guess I just didn't like the silence and besides didn't you say that you were looking for the ones who threw them in the first place?" Rika's mouth curved slightly though her response remained monotone "Yeah well, that was just so I could get away from bunny talks-a lot... wait a minute if you threw one, who threw the other?" Takato chuckled and looked down murmuring "Kazu." Rika had to strain her ears to hear him correctly but when she did a smirk played itself out on her face, in a way it made sense those two were the most annoying ones in their group (at least from her perspective) they had already annoyed everyone else in their group bout time they started anoying each other.

Looking up Takato noticed the snow had stopped falling awhile ago and they hadn't even noticed, During their 'conversation' both of them seemed to have forgotten about everything else, the goggleheaded boy in a blue winter coat put both hands in his pockets. For awhile after he didn't say a word because well honestly he couldn't think of a single thing to say and he had run out of things off the top of his head to talk about, after all Rika wasn't the type of girl who typically started conversations and did things her own way with no exception.

After they had been walking for awhile both stopped when Takato realized they were in a part of the park that neither of them recognized since the snow effectively covered up any familiar sights. And both deciding that they were far enough from the others choose to stop and appreciate the beauty of this winter wnderland, that was when Takato suddenly remembered something.

"You know Rika I was wondering-" "That'd be a first." Rika interrupted, she did not really feel like talking right now however Takato would not be discouraged so easily and choose to ignore her remark. "Well it's just been on my mind recently and I was wondering, what exactly do you have against Ryo, I mean I know from talking with him that he beat you in a digimon tournament and that must have been an emotional blow for you but I thought that you two were connecting as friends, especially after the D-reaper."

He spoke of course of how they fought the cable reaper together and how Sakuyamon lent her strength to Justimon to defeat it, even though the attack had been a failure that pretty much left them both defenseless she had still been impressed with the legendary tamer. Even going so far as to ask if impressing her had been his only motivation though she had only asked because she had been unsure if he would have been able to survive the transfer of her powers, the fear she had felt that one time had been overwhelming her other senses. "I don't hate Mr. Perfect I just can't stand his stupid ego, Stupid obnoxious attitude, stupid perfect teeth, and most of all the stupid little nicknames he is always calling me." for some reason it felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders as she stamped the slush with her footprint and crossed her arms letting out an indignant huff, Rika was hoping Takato would just drop the talking and not press anymore into her privacy if she answered him.

Takato raised an eyebrow thinking _She really needs to loosen up a little, though seeing her like this is kind of cute.... wait did I just think Rika was cute?_ The answer brought a rush of heat to his face coloring it a delightful crimson. Tugging at the collar of his sweater Takato attempted to conceal his blush from Rika however she appeared to have not noticed, she was leaning against a tree with her eyes closed enjoying the silence. As his flush cooled down Takato started to examine his views_ why is this happening to me? I like Rika but I don't love her, I love Jeri... really_ so why did it feel like he was only trying to convince himself? _Now I know how Davis always feels when he's dealing with love-sick problems, great I'm comparing my life to an anime characters_ as he continued to contemplate his mind unexpectingly thought of something.

What if he had not just had a crush on his friend Jeri but somehow, at some point he had also started falling for the only other female tamer as close to him as she was. A sickening revulsion threatened to overtake his stomach and he quickly shook his head to clear out the consideration that that he was in love with two girls at once. _Naw couldn't be, for one thing that just wouldn't be fair for my friends, I don't want something like that to happen, I'd rather keep my friendship with both of them.  
_

Takato slumped against a tree and gradually slid down still trying to comprehend his situation, soon though he was able to restore order in his turbulent musing somewhat and regain control of himself however there was still a queasy feeling in his stomach and a cold chill from something other than the cold running up and down his spine. He looked back at Rika and sighed as he came to a decision. _Looks like we both could use the distraction, if she doesn't kill me first that is_ reaching out he cupped a mound of snow and stood up packing it into a tight little ball.

"Hey Rika!"

Said girl had been currently leaning against a tree with her eyes closed, enjoying the silence when she heard her name being called. Growling slightly under her breath Rika opened her eyes, and turned around in agitation you better have a good excuse Goggle-

Smack!

Her train of thought was halted by the icy sting of a freshly made snowball as it collided with her face. The girl was so stunned she nearly missed hearing laughter coming from the direction of a certain boy. Takato just stood there in silence unable to believe it, Rika had actually fallen for that trick so easily, he couldn't help but let out a long laugh at the look on her face. She looked like someone who had just been stood up on a date, not that Rika would actually ever do that with anyone but still it funny none the less and Takato had to hold his sides from the stitches of pain that were beginning to develop in his lungs.

Rika reached up and silently wiped her face clean of the powdery substance, unable to believe what had just happened. Then her fist clenched as anger registered itself within her mind _Ooohhhh so that's the way its going to be huh_ she watched the gogglehead bust a gut at his own little stunt, her face was vibrant with seething rage before that gave way to her more competitive nature and a wicked gleam came over her eyes_ Okay if that's the way you want to play I'm game._

She may be icey to others but that didn't mean she actually liked the cold.

Smack, smack, smack

Takato was so distracted that he didn't see the three snowballs come at him until it was too late; one hit him in the side of the head while the other two struck his chest and left leg. Takato keeled and nearly fell over into a quiet blanket of white, but he managed to catch himself at the last second then turned and looked at Rika with a bent smile as well as a face half covered in snow. Shaking it off a bit his smile only seemed to grow wider and still feeling the residue of laughter still in his chest he asked a simple question "Was that really necessary?" Rika's playful smirk mirrored his own "Very, and didn't you say something earlier about not hitting me with snowballs?" Takato had no idea what possessed him to say these next words but they came out of his mouth all the same and for some reason he didn't regret saying them "That was then, and this means war." Rika put her hands to her hips and replied haughtily "You are now one dead gogglehead."

The next second they were both running in the opposite direction hiding behind trees and piling snow on the ground to make armloads of snowballs, then giving a quick peek they started a small game of throwing and ducking sometimes moving to other places to avoid getting hit by one another before they both decided to charge one another at the same time. Takato's snowballs were the first to hit, he got Rika in the shoulder and leg but her aim was better as she retaliated by hitting him three times in the face successfully obscuring his vision "Ha, should have worn your goggles!" Rika shouted diving for cover behind one of the trees from Takato's blinds shots.

Unfortunately this caused her to drop all the remaining snowballs she had left, leaving her defenseless _Good thing Goggleheads already out of ammo_ she thought tentively glancing out from her hiding spot to see Takato wiping the snow off as best he could with his clothing already covered in snow. When Takato had gotten off enough to see he rapidly darted his head from place to place, Rika pulled her head back before he could spot it _he doesn't know where I am_ her intuition reasoned then it began formulating a way to use that to an advantage _Perfect._

Takato meanwhile was in a bit of a bind, he couldn't remember seeing which tree Rika had been behind and that left him virtually a sitting duck for any kind of ambush she could have waiting_ Ah NUTS! okay calm down and think, there's got to be a way for me to turn this around._ His shallow breaths gradually became more normal as he tried to imagine a way out, then inspiration struck hard bringing a look of victory to his visage _Perfect_ Turning on a random path he broke out into a full run hoping he wasn't running straight into a trap.

Fortunately his choice was in the opposite direction from which Rika had occupied herself in, the girl hearing Takato's running footsteps decided to take a risk and took another peek out from the frozen bush next to the tree. The corners of her eyes just barely caught a glimpse of blue zigzagging through the trees before it was gone, Rika stood up and started to pursue him on the same path but keeping enough distance to where she would not be noticed. _Where the hell is he going?_ The redhead thought feeling strangely exhilarated by the thrill of the chase, it was odd the way they had been acting since Rika never considered Takato actually having the guts to throw a snowball at her and unofficially make a snowball challenge.

Even more weird was how much fun she seemed to be having, it felt like she could just laugh off everything in her life and enjoy chasing Takato, oh the thought of seeing him lying facedown buried in the snow brought such pleasure to her _must be the competitive need showing._ Rika was so lost in her thinking that she did notice Takato had somehow given her the slip until she nearly ran straight into one of the trees. _What! Now where did he go? Ugh that's it no more distractive thoughts_ opening up all her senses Rika carefully surveyed the area trying to find some indication to where the Gogglehead disappeared to. As her eyes passed over a particular set of tall bushes clumped together between two trees she thought she saw... Rika stepped closer to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her, it took a bit of squinting but she was positive she could scarcely see a familiar piece of blue only a few inches above the bushes.

_Is he stretching or something?_

Rika pondered while moving even nearer making sure each step taken was as silent as a baby mouse, the feeling in her gut told her to be cautious which almost made her scoff in annoyance _as if I would ever need to be careful around Gogglehead, he'd trip over his own shoes even if they were tied. _Still her movements remained stealthy and cat-like as she maneuvered herself round one side of the tree and peered over the other side to find a surprise, instead of locating Takato she found his blue sweater somehow strung up with a couple of tree limbs through its long sleeves with one being raised upon its elbow so that it could be seen.

She had been tricked by a decoy and now she found that she had made the mistake of unconsciously wandering out into the open from the tree to get a better view but the realization came too late when she heard Takato's voice shouting "HEADS UP!" And turned around to see him in a white shirt holding onto a branch he was pulling around the side of a tree before his grip released launching about half a dozen snowballs at her like a catapult, Rika thought she heard herself yelp as each one hit. They didn't hurt really, more like the force behind each hit was enough to knock the wind out of her and she vaguely registered falling back into the snow when it was over. Takato watched Rika as she lay unstirring on the ground, his expression a mixture of concern and fear then tempting fate he moved closer and asked if she was okay. No response was heard and for a moment Takato felt the sensation of panic fill his heart, so imagine his incredulity when Rika silently picked herself up and calmly dusted the snow from her clothing. The emotionless look she carried left him feeling uneasy and more terrified than he'd even been around her, even at her angriest.

"You know Takato."

Her voice seemed to freeze his feet to the spot, in his mind alarm bells were going off like it was the end of the world since she had called him by name it probably was going to be the end of something. Takato turned to gaze in fear as she started to move forward, hand clutching a snowball she had somehow made without him being made aware "That was quite the bold one to do, I think I might actually be impressed." At this she paused, her posture made the unease within Takato grow ever larger "However that doesn't change the fact that-" with teeth gritting she suddenly ran at him shouting "YOUR STILL DEAD!" raising the arm holding the snowball she obviously meant to plow him down with it. And the poor boy was just too scared to do anything to prevent her wrath, then at the last second something happened that neither one of them could have ever foreseen.

Rika felt her foot being tugged by something hidden in the snow, probably a root, causing her to lose balance and trip head first into Takato, both of them tumbled to the ground in shock. Somehow Rika's scarf came lose and they found themselves tumbling on the ground getting tangled up within its woolen embrace and because of their positions all that accomplished was interlocking their limbs, it ended with Takato being the one on top.

Takato's mind was too shocked to register what had happened while Rika blinked snapping back to reality and finally able to comprehended things again did the only sensible thing she could do, she blushed and tried to punch Takato through the head though at least she hadn't screamed and called him pervert. "_Get off_" she hissed through her teeth and the remark managed to snap Takato out of his trance, "Wha- oh, OH sorry, okay let me just..." Being the good friend he was Takato was more than happy to comply but his struggles proved vain "Hey watch where you move that hand." Rika said as her leg almost went in between his.

"Sorry!" he practically shouted, as they continued exterting themselves, pointless in that they only managed to tighten its hold on them. Takato tried to move to the left while Rika abruptly moved her head up and connected her mouth to his.

With that all time stopped, Rika felt the heat of his breath play itself across her lips like it was scorching them she tried to think of something but trains of thought had all but left her at the moment as an incredibly warmth made her feel lightheaded. Takato's mind was pretty much the same, he was vaguely aware he was kissing some with soft lips and breath like cold refreshing air, but for the life of him he couldn't remember why that would be a bad thing. Then there was the scent, that wonderful scent that filled his nostrils like a sort of mix between strawberries and sakura blossoms yet it was so unique, it was her own scent and with it being so close he couldn't help but inhale it.

After some time passed Takato started to become more and more drunken on that same scent from the girl, his rational side faded and his thoughts became blurry lines of intoxication in contrast to Rika who was becoming more observent of her surroundings. And that nearly gave her a heart attack when she fully realized that she was actually kissing the Gogglehead, resuming her struggles she managed to wiggle her lips away from his and speak out.

"Ta-Takato!" Rika bitterly scolded herself for stuttering, instead of her voice being loud and commanding it came out sounding insecure and afraid but it still worked, Takato seemed to realize what had happened and gasping he hastily pulled away. If the two thought they had been embarresed before that was nothing compared to the lovely crimson which decorated their cheeks quite nicely. Neither one knew what to say and so they both ceased their pointless attempts and just laid there in silence despite having their bodies pressed so closely that they could feel the pounding of each others hearts their breaths came out natural rising like mushroom plumes in the winter air.

That reticence was eventually broken by Rika angrily questioning "What the hell were you were doing?" Takato's reaction was to bow his head and quietly reply "Honestly, I don't know." that however was not nearly good enough of an answer for the girl "Baka." she murmured while on the inside her emotions were raging like the tempest though she was able to keep them down.

Trying not to make any angrier than she already was Takato waved his arms and said "Wait, Wait! It's not like I actually meant to kiss you, it was just a, just an accident that's all."

"Even if it was an accident, that doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't have happened in the first place." Clearly his words were having a misunderstanding with Rika and not calming her down like he hoped they would. Then Rika lowered her voice to almost a whisper saying "That was my first one."

"No really I wasn't trying to... wait did you just say that was your first kiss?"

Another rush of heat threatened to stain her cheeks and she looked away, not wishing to meet his inquisitive gaze and he finally understood what she had gotten so angry about _Great way to go Takato, now you just made it seem like your actually in love with the girl. _

"Rika?"

"...."

"Okay, I know you probably don't want to talk and you don't have to but please could you at least listen?" He asked not seeing a change in her expression he sighed and continued "Look I know this is awkward and all, and I don't really expect us to be able to pretend it never happened but nobody else saw us and for all we no, nobody ever will so could we just agree to disagree and say that this whole event doesn't count?"

Rika still didn't reply but her eyes did turn to look at him at least, and after a few seconds her head gave a single nod of recognition and he chuckled quietly to ease the stress before saying "At least your taking it better than most girls would." She was still the same girl he had always seen her as, a strong independent fighter that cared enough about her friends to throw herself off a cliff, someone who hated being looked down upon because of gender or weakness and if he looked closely enough. He blinked, there was some kind of shine to her eyes that he didn't recall being there before and her hair had become unusually vibrant luminous in the fallen snowflakes.

Takato shook his head for the second time today, he could not allow himself to think anymore past that since it would make the moment seem even more maladroit than it already was and instead he decided to change the subject "Well alright, that's over with now how are we going to get out of this scarf?"

One of the limbs above them made a pleasant crackling sound and caused some of the frost covering the frozen leaves to fall down and make a good sized anthill shaped mound of snow, the three of them instantly tensed and went on the alert as a shadow cast itself behind the bark of the treetops. The two stiffened together and prepared to try and reach for their D-Arcs when a female voice gave a fake cough and said "Excuse me, was I interrupting something between you two?"

Looking up they were both relieved to see it was Renamon, though the jaunty smile her maw showed reminded the to of their positions, Takato felt embarrassed while Rika only felt irritated both with herself and her partner _Hasn't anyone ever heard of the word tact before?_

Her answer came in the form of a curious Dino walking up to them and asking bluntly "Takato why are you tied up like that to Rika? Were you two having a fight with it?"

_Apparently not_ Rika groaned in her mind then turning her head to her digimon she said "Renamon if you wouldn't mind." The vulpine Digimon nodded only once and said "Of course." before a small diamond arrowhead appeared in her hand and with one clean shot she managed to split the scarf in half freeing its occupants. The two untangled themselves in a comical fashion then stood up one after the other, Takato patted Guilmons head while Rika signaled to Renamon they were to leave.

Neither Guilmon nor Renamon knew what to make of the spectacule they had just witnessed though renamon made a mental note to later have a cup of tea with Rika and try to discuss it. While Guilmons head was filled with the usually trainwreck of combined thoughts mostly centered around where to find food or why his tamer seemed to be acting nervously around ever little thing.

* * *

When the two were lead back to the others by their digimon they found an amiable suprise waiting for them, it seemed that Terriermon had become bored of waiting for Rika to come back and had pestered Henry into going to find out next until the poor boy's eardrums were ready to bleed. Needless to saw he brought everyone else and now they had all somehow been augmented into the snowball fight, snowballs flew through the air by the dozens and suprisingly there was one extra member who had joined in. A certain impish pranskter whom everone had come to know and love, impmon only instead of wearing his usual red neckerchief he was instead wearing a long, bright yellow scarf around his neck.

Since Ai and Mako had sided with Henry and Jeri he was also on that side while suzie, kazu, ryo, kenta, and the rest of their digimon played on the other side with Calumon serving as a sort of scorekeeper for both teams. the same thought ran through Rika and Takato's minds How long have we been gone! Guilmon though had a more blithe thing to say "Euuu that looks like fun Takatomon, can I play?"

Takato didn't answer at first, he was too busy watching the fighting going on but having heard the digimon he tried to answer "Huh, what? Oh uh sure whatever you want Guilmon." The baby dragon waved his hands happily and said "Yippie!" before practically diving head first into the volley of bleached white projectiles. Jeri having seen him followed the direction he had come from to spot her friends standing almost hidden behind the trees and she happily waved to both before shouting "Rika! Takato! Glad to see you both, we were all worried when you didn't come back! Well mostly just me but anyways do you want to join in, we could always use some extra help!"

The Gogglehead was the first one to react to that he blinked and looked at Rika unsurely; she simply shrugged her shoulder and moved her head to indicate he was to go on ahead Takato looked at her with a questioning glance but she did not move. Finally, Takato closed his eyes and nodded before turning back to Jeri with his own waving arm "Okay! I'll be right down!"

He looked at Rika one last time before running off to join his friends while she stood there watching him leave, Renamon above her head seemingly concerned but never actually voicing it. A sudden noise to her left temporally acquired her attention as she looked to see Kazu throwing insults, as well as snowballs at Impmon.

"Hey Impmon, is that your neck or did someone tie a banana slug to your head?"

To which the diminutive Imp replied "What! Why I outta."

Hearing this Guardromon stopped the assault to locate the source of whatever it was that his tamer had found so laughable, mechanical gizzards and springs worked themselves in a frenzy within his data based mind "Kazu I do not understand the meaning. How does a piece of dyed wool clothe resemble an invertebrate native to the North American pacific coastal coniferous rainforest belt." Kazu stopped mocking his adversary and looked at his digimon dumbfounded before yelling out "That's not what I meant you rust bucket, it was supposed to be funny, and you'd have to be kookier than coconuts not to get it."

Guardromon simply put his hands behind his robotic head and repeated Kazu "Kookier than coconuts." Kazu started to get annoyed at the automaton digimon, to which he heavily kicked Guardromon in the side saying, "Hey get your own catchphrase already!" The next second both tamer and digimon found themselves buried under a foot of snow courtesy of Beelzemon and a little help from Ai and Mako's snow piling prowess.

Rika rolled her eyes and returned to the act of standing about and observing the others, well more like just one. So much that she did not notice when a certain someone began to approach her with a smug grin present on his egocentric face.

"Well, well if it isn't my favorite wildca-ugh" before Ryo even had time to finish that statement Rika had already shoved a snowball into his face, muffling it with the icy coldness before sternly stating "Knock it off _Akiyama,_ I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now." Ryo lookeds like he was about to say something but then noticing the way Rika's eyes were shifting over followed her gaze and internally he started to chuckle. _Oh you sly dog _He thought before backing off from rika for once in his life and just standing around now that she was here he didn't really feel like playing anymore anyways.

The red haired girl though wasn't paying attention to that her eyes were too focused on a specific person currently throwing snowball alongside Jeri, his gaze shifted and caught hers, for another moment time stood still as both of them came to the same conclusion.

Each had a feeling they would have a lot to think about what happened and that this wasn't over.

****

_Okay so that's the first part of this two-shot fic, This is not the End, if you feel it was a little bittersweet well I'm sorry but the second part will be a lot better I promise, next part will be the final bit and will take place within Takato's very home, could you even imagine the madness that could bring? Anyone got any comments they'd like to make, thoughts…. Anything?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the second part of the two shot.**

**

* * *

**

_The moments of happiness we enjoy takes us by surprise, it is not that we seize them but rather they seize us. -Ashley Montagu_

**

* * *

**_Why am I here?_

This was the first thought that ran through the mind of a certain Redhead as she leaned her back against an iron railing, head bent to stare at snowflakes falling from the cloudless black sky above. As far as Rika could tell she was standing on some kind of a cement structure feeling how solid the white ground underneath her feet felt and the fact that there was a lamppost next to her whose light continually flickered within the glass container.

The structure wasn't very large, she clearly saw that it would only take about fifty steps to cross it yet for some reason she could not bring herself to do so. On one side she could see in the distance speckles of light outlining the tall silhouettes of city buildings. While on the other side was a large forest stripped completely bare of foliage and stacked together up like a line of soldiers.

Rika did not recognize her surroundings however her mind deduced that she was standing on a small bridge judging from how wide it was. In addition to the fact that if she tilted her head a little she would see a river that would run through what she assumed to be the gaping mouth of a tunnel under her shoes. Right now the river was frozen, trapped within a layer of frost, which kept it from flowing like everything else in the passage of time.

The girl exhaled and watched another puff of breath float away toward nothing, Rika noticed that the most peculiar thing was not that she seemed to be in a place she had never been to before nor did it seem important to question how exactly she had gotten here. Rather it was how she found that there was no color anywhere, not just that everything was covered in snow but there was absolutely no color to anything except her. She also noted the absence of her partner, being unable to sense her nearby through their connection made it seem like Rika really was alone out here.

I_s this a dream? Well obviously, can't think of any other reason why the world would suddenly look like an old black and white movie._

Her clothes were the normal blue coat and pants she wore during the winter. Thankfully, she wasn't sporting that same scarf again.

As she stood in the snow waiting for something to happen, hopefully soon as she was beginning to lose her patience with the dream suddenly she was made aware of a presence on one side of the bridge when the faint sound of a twig snapping reached her ears and she quickly faced the direction it had come from. Her only greeting was the same scenery she had just been watching, there was no indication that anything had been there.

Mentally scolding herself for being so jumpy Rika turned and returned to her original position to continue staring at nothing in particular. When the sound came back, this time on the other side of the bridge she snapped it in the direction of the noise only to once again find that there was no one there. Annoyance proceeded to her face _Okay that's it, either whatever's supposed to happen in this dream happens now or I'm just going to wake myself up._ Reaching up one arm the girl prepared to give herself a light pinch to the other arm that would conceivably induce the proper sensation of a shock to her brain and yank her back to reality.

The unexpected chime of a small bell at her feet stopped her motions and Rika bent her head down slightly to gaze at whatever had made the curious jingle, at her feet lay the one thing Rika would never have expected to find in one of her dreams. It was a small present, the package was grey like everything else but at the same time it had been decorated in colorful things; such as a red ribbon tied in a little bow with a piece of Mistletoe hanging from one loop, adorned with three small bells which Rika assumed had been the cause of the noise.

Looking from left to right trying to find some trace of whomever left the gift to her; Rika's sight was only met with the same scenery she had been staring at for what felt like hours now. Staring back at the wrapped thing Rika was hesitant to pick it up at first, not that she had anything against getting gifts but when receiving one and not knowing who the giver was kind of sent an uncomfortable feeling of being stalked through her body. Deciding to just go ahead and test the waters a bit she carefully reached down and picked it up, turning it from one side to the other and upside down taking in every detail. Finding nothing even remotely suspicious about it the girl merely stood there holding it with heedful finger, she made no move to do anything with it. Reasoning within her mind over the significance of what to do with her possession Rika sought to understand why it was even here.

_Well if this is a dream it could become a horribly cliché one where I open the present and a face-hugger or something jumps out at me._

Rika paused in thought to try and image what that might be like, before shaking her head.

_Then again I don't normally know if I'm dreaming and whatever is inside this present is probably important if I'm holding it like it's going to drop and shatter. _

As Rika continued to debate with her own introspection she grew mindful of another thing added to the present that she hadn't been paying much attention to. There was a small blank card hanging from the bottom half of the gift, grasping it in her fingers Rika tentatively turned it over searching for any insignia that could give her a better idea of the sender. Finding it just as white as the other side she decided that the inside might hold a better hint to her mysterious sender and opening it up was surprised to find that instead of any actual signature there were only a few lines of words and a picture.

A picture of her, or to be more precise a hand drawn sketch of her face colored by markers and with a little smile that seemed to have been made so naturally even Rika herself believed it was real. Underneath that she could read the words:

_Expecting a little more?_

_Well here's something I got just for you._

_Happy holidays to you with a warm greeting, Rika._

"Well that's really helpful but really is it too hard to just leave a name or something?" Sarcasm her forte as always Rika took another look at the card to see if she had accidentally missed something. In the back of her mind there was only one person she knew who could have drawn her face as a signature like that, an image of a certain chestnut brown haired and crimson eyed tamer wearing goggles filled her mind then Rika actually felt a spread of pink across her face.

_Not that the red ribbon wasn't a bit of a dead giveaway but still, why would I be dreaming about a gift from Takato?_

Staring again Rika suddenly yet swiftly took the card right off and stuffed it into her coat pocket then exhaling a deep breath that turned to steam in the air she lifted the gift up closer to the vicinity of her upper body using one arm while the other began unwrapping her gift. Down fell the mistletoe to embrace hard cement while the ribbon when pulled surrendered itself to a passing breeze and was gone in a wild serpentine flutter. Long nails picked apart crevices in the grey wrapping paper until it was promptly torn in two. The deed was done slowly but not carefully as though some lingering doubt prevented her from moving any faster.

_Let's just get this over with_ was the last thought in Rika's head having become fed up with understanding the dream she impatiently opened the box releasing illumination from within it.

* * *

"Rika, time to wake up. It's Christmas!"

A small groan of annoyance and slight shuffling of covers was the only response Rumiko Nonaka could garner from the still half sleeping girl, frowning at her daughter's stubbornness to remain dreaming the mother decided to try a more incessant approach. With a wicked grin she began rapidly poking random places of the blanketed body causing it to muddle and twitch through the material until finally rolling itself off the futon then Rika's head immediately shot upward looking around for an unknown enemy.

"Huh! Wha... Renamon?" She rubbed the dusts of sleep from her eyes the bipedal kitsune appeared to melt into solid form out of empty air, piercing blue eyes only half watching for any signs of a threat. Rika blinked out the last remains of drowsiness from her vision then took a closer look at her visitor, seeing the older woman with her hands clapped together and radiant features in the semi-dark room.

"Mum! What are you doing her it's..." She paused to peek at a small clock observing the time the girl covered her face with one arm moaning.

"Four-forty in the morning!"

Rumiko did not answer, she merely giggled with lighthearted vigor. "Now Sweetie its Christmas, don't tell me you plan on sleeping this one special day away and not spend time with your family and friends." She played the guilt card like a true actor would but Rika was not one to be persuaded so easily, lying back down she attempted to cover herself back up.

"Of course not, but couldn't this 'Special Day' wait a few more hours like maybe when the sun is up?"

The covers were then unexpectedly yanked straight from her fingers forcing Rika back up to gawk at her mother as she pumped her fist robustly in the air. "Nonsense! Haven't you heard that those who rise the earliest seize the day?"

Rika briefly wondered if the person in front of her was really her mother before dismissing the thought as a product of sleep deprivation. She disdainfully rose on this sunless morning; having abandoned the notion of returning to sleep so long as Rumiko remained within the room, smoothing out the wrinkles from her pajama shirt and strands of red hair.

"Then why don't you ever apply that kind of logic to your normal routine?" She whispered out of her mother's earshot, opening the sliding closet door Rika's hand instinctively reached out for one of several white shirts decorated with hearts before abruptly stopping. Deeming it too tenuous to change all her clothing right now her hand changed direction and grabbed a simple pair of jeans instead, the fervent chattering of Rumiko went on to fill the air as she did so.

"Hurry up now dear. We don't want to keep mum waiting for too long."

Rika's face showed surprise as she pulled the pants legs up. "Grandma's up too?"

Rumiko's reply was to practically dance out the door and pop her head back in. "Of course, it wouldn't be Christmas if all of us weren't celebrating."

Then she was gone, Rika stared at the empty space her mother had just stood in before shaking her head and turning back towards Renamon. The digimon had remained silent through the entire event however the communicable smirk she wore could tell a million stories. Rika fixated her digimon with a spurious irritation.

"Do you have anything to say about all this Renamon?"

The fox appeared to essay with choosing her words but she spoke regardless. "Why nothing at all Rika, except that your mother seems even more lively than normal."

Rika looked back. "Yeah I never knew mum could act like that, usually the only things she gets excited over are her work and fashion but now it feels like watching a little kid at the festival." She then picked up a hair band to tie the limp follicles of hair into a manageable pony tail

"Perhaps then as others would say it is simply because she has the Christmas spirit?"

Rika almost actually laughed at the obvious humor in her partner's words, but that would have been cruel as it would have only come out as sarcastic. "Hardly, I know my mum well enough to figure out something's up." Rika walked out the door saying "C'mon. We'll just go with it for now." The Kitsune nodded and disappeared using the same method as she had appeared.

Rika took a second to stare at her room, the dream she had still remained within her train of thought.

_I wonder if it meant anything? _

* * *

As expected when she came across the large living room of sorts in the Nonaka household Rika found her grandmother, Seiko Nonaka sitting at the wide maru table pleasantly drinking a cup of warm tea within her palm, though her eyes were so barely open one would assume she had done so in her sleep. A cup had been placed out for both her and her mother as well though Rika doubted the woman would even need hers.

_Must be more tired than I thought, just how early did mum get her up anyway? _Rika thought noticing that despite how tired she seemed, the elderly Nonaka was still dressed in her normal morning clothes. The grandmother opened her eyes and acknowledged her granddaughter with a simple nod, gesturing for Rika to sit down next to her. The girl complied with her unspoken request and together they both enjoyed the serenity of the winter day as well as the various decorations strewn about the walls of the room. Most of which led back to a moderately large pine tree covered in Kusudama, or as they were generally called origami paper balls..

Underneath said tree were piles of presents neatly stacked and presented with colorful papers that made them look a mixture of celebration, none of the gifts however would be from Rika as it was a tradition for only children to receive gifts. Adults like Rumiko and Seiko would be given their gifts by other people, mostly either by her grandmother's fellow Internet chat pals or Rumiko's adoring fans although those would probably be treats like Dried Kakis or maybe mint chocolate Macarons.

_Thank God that's at least one thing I don't have to worry about, I'd never know what mum wants anyway unless it was a boyfriend, and she's not exactly unsold Xmas cake either so she would probably have one even if I didn't do anything at all._

The Christmas season being a commercial event more than anything else in the Japanese culture had in recent years become the subject of jokes concerning women's, age and love life, since it was a time connected with romance. If a woman over twenty-five was not either married or in a relationship then she was referred to as unsold X-mas cake. The reason being that stores normally did not sell any Christmas cakes past Christmas day, considering it too old to make a profit from.

"You know Grandma, isn't it normal for us to celebrate on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day?"

The eldest Nonaka took another sip from her cup. "Yes well, your mother is... having a rather special guest over later today; apparently she managed to come across the acquaintance of a certain American model and wants him to feel more at home."

If noise be praise then the sound of coughing from Rika's mouth across the table would have been as a choir of angels. It wasn't as though Rika were surprised to find out her mother already had someone to spend the evening with, however the fact that he was from another country entirely was definitely not something Rika would have been expecting.

_What? Now she's dating foreigners? Well that certainly explains the good mood but is she really getting that despera-?_

"Okay. Let's close the chatter session and open some presents!" Rumiko had chosen that particular moment to interrupt Rika's thinking with her ceaseless exultation, the woman then paused in her revelry to glance at her daughter's current attire. "You know I didn't notice before but what happened to the scarf I gave you as a Christmas present yesterday Rika?"

_Hmm, I wonder how you say 'I left it out in the woods after my digimon destroyed it because I hated the gaudy thing' in a nice way? _Rika tried to picture her mother's reaction in a positive way with said 'nice way' but it only came out as an upsetting mental scene.

"I put it up in my closet," She casually replied then returned to sipping the tea with her grandmother while her mother put her finger to the chin as if she was determining the truthfulness of her daughter's words.

"I see, well that means you can always wear it later."

Rika almost visible groaned. Sometimes her own mother was insufferable with the fashion sense.

_Who would even need a seven foot long scarf like that anyway?_ While she contemplated this Rumiko was already going for the first gift and hastily checked the card before tearing it open herself. Inside was predictable a small bottle of fine conditioner from her modeling company, as a way of thanking her for all the hard work she put in during hours.

The presents came and went and as suspected Rika only received a small, which was putting things in the lightest terms, portion. After that, things actually quieted down quite nicely since they were able to enjoy a normal breakfast of rice mixed with raw egg and shuyo sauce, curry too was added to finish off the meal. When they were down Rika neatly placed her chopsticks back on the wooden platter and quietly excused herself.

"I just remembered, I have something else to do today." Then she was off back to her room to change clothes and was back out the sliding door wearing only what she had the day before.

"Well now what do you suppose that was about?" Rumiko scrutinized to no one as she watched her daughter walk out, ignoring the gnawing feeling in her stomach to pursue the girl and say a thing or two about her choice in clothing.

"Just let it go dear," Seiko stated having not moved from her place at the table. "Rika probably wants a little fresh air and a little time to herself right now."

The younger of the two women folded her arms and walked the room in circles looking nixed before she finally stopped and sighed. "I swear there are times I think I'll never know my own daughter and I'll definitely never understand how you can always tell what she needs."

Seiko simply smiled. "Give it time Rumiko, you'll find that the two of you aren't really that different at all."

This captured the attentions of the model.

"Hmm really like what?"

"Well for one thing you are both equally impatient."

* * *

The chill of winter wind stung itself like wasp stings upon her face unlike the gentle falling snowflakes to the streets of Shinjuku prompting the girl to pull her blue collar up for protection against the cold spell having white washed the pavement.

_Okay so I'm here now what? _Truthfully she had no prior arrangements for anything today except of course to try and allocate her time with the family something she might have looked forward to on another day. Now that she had already equivocated to them it seemed that Rika was no longer able to carry that motion, thus she resigned to putting her hands in both coat pockets and strut a collected walk down the blanched byways with only the link between her and the trailing imperceptible Renamon to serve as a passing comfort.

Traveling the proverbial lanes and boulevards well known to her Rika paused in her stead a moment to take in the residuums of yesterday. Most of the shops and stores were closed, their walls still decorated with lines of blinking florescence or floral decor of some type. The city itself a grey thing with stones and festivities sewn from the immemorial years long passed.

_Eh, I'm probably just over thinking those things a bit. I mean what's the big deal about this holiday anyway? _With that deliberation in mind Rika resumed her trek in the moderate hustle of passing cars and unnamable strangers. She knew not her destination nor did she care to place on in her mind but somehow the redhead discovered herself to have wandered near the corner of a very familiar bread shop where aired fragrance of fresh bread and assorted goodies drew an irresistible lore to her stomach. Realizing she had probably not had a full breakfast Rika hesitantly moved closer to the front of the store, understandably not too many people visible behind the frozen glass.

There were still so many kinds to choose from, so much that Rika would have sworn she almost drooled at the sight of such delicacies. Wiping her mouth on a sleeve to be sure Rika proceeded to enter the abode and almost immediately her senses were assaulted with a heavenly lucidness in every nook and cranny. A bell chime sounded her arrival as she took in the atmosphere. There was a quaint charm to the place which projected a certain life to everything.

Rika having lost all concentration in everything else almost bumped into someone if a firm hand had not set itself on her shoulder and pulled the girl away. Mie Matsuki was the culprit looking at the girl in a welcoming yet somehow surreptitious manner.

"Why hello Rika."

Before the girl knew it she was turned in the direction of the counter away from the other customers.

"If your here to see Takato, I'm sorry but he's working on something right now, would you like to make a purchase instead?"

The gurgling of an avaricious stomach answered this time and Rika glowered in embarrassment at being caught.

Reaching into both pockets she fumbled around for currency, grumbling she quit the attempts and scolded herself internally for making such an irreflective decision as coming into a shop without any yen to spend. Not that she actually planned to come here and spend money but still.

"I'll tell you what, there are some day old leftovers of yesterday's sales in the back where Takato's working. Why don't you just help yourself to some and visit him?"

Rika looked up at the venerable woman and opened her mouth to protest the offer but Mie would not hear of it, eventually Rika complied and headed off toward the small hallway where she heard someone whistling in the kitchen oblivious to everything else and guessed it was Takato's dad.

* * *

Takato forced the heavy breath from his lungs as he carefully kneaded the dough into a perfect shape, despite what most people thought bread making was not easy to do. Near him slumped against the wall lay a content and astonishingly full Guilmon with a piece of Guilmon bread hanging limply uneaten in his maw. Wiping the perspiration with a chalky sleeve Takato studied his project so intently that he did not notice the shadow of a person standing directly behind him.

"So what are you making?"

"Oh nothing it's just a little something for every-aahhh Rika!"

There was a resounding crash as Takato lay dazed on his back using a few unopened boxes of bread as cushioning, Rika decided to spare the Gogglehead a little humility and was quick to help him back to his feet.

"You know that was funny the first time but now it's just too easy," She said watching him rub the back of his head in discomposure and pain.

"Rika? What are you doing here?" His tone made the question seem more like an innocent query than an insulting demand, being incredulous as he was.

Rika just shrugged and looked at a random spot on the wall. "To be honest I don't know." Her attentions then directed themselves to a bin filled with day old creampuffs and melon bread. Taking a few as though she were at a buffet Rika casually enjoyed a second breakfast as both observed the other in solace. "So your mum told me you were working on something back here. Mind if I lend a hand?"

Takato blinked in perplexity. "Really? You want to?"

Rika avoided making eye contact with him. "Yeah so, I don't think it's any big deal." Then she looked back at him with a prideful glance. "Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing better to do anyway, so what are you making?"

He put his finger to his chin trying to find the best way to word it. "Have you ever eaten Manjou before?"

"What, you mean like Suzaku Manjou?" She asked referring to what her mother had brought back with her from the trip she took in the Kyoto region.

"Actually I was talking about the Shiratori Manjou; I wanted to try something similar to that," He said cheerfully picking up some leftover dough from his earlier work and carefully kneading it until it looked like a snowman with a misshapen nose. "I wanted to try and see if I could make the world's first Roku Jizou Manjou."

Rikas look made him feel as though he had entered Char Bydis. "The Roku Jizuo. The six old monks that watch over and deliver gifts to children?"

"Yeah I figured making some manjou in the shape of the six would make a perfect late holiday gift."

He was being completely serious with her. Rika sighed sometimes she felt as though she would never understand his logic. "Honestly the things you come up with, okay so what are you going to do with them after that? Give them to everyone?"

"You got it; today I'm like a secret Santa." He said putting on a smile so sanguine Rika could not help but feel herself be moved by the boys demeanor. It was hard to argue with someone like that when they did things for unselfish reasons and expected nothing in return. The worst part was that it was contagious as Rika felt herself return the gesture but she managed to conceal it before he noticed and proceeded to searching for an apron underneath the sink.

Once adorned in the proper garb she quickly set herself up as best she could to begin assisting him but ignoring his curious stare proved difficult and distracting. As they worked neither of them seemed able to keep their focus on the task at hand and Rika having very little experience in cooking became prone to more than one incident. She almost burned Takato's foot with hot water while he almost hit her in the back of the head with a pan. They were even worse when close to one another as recent memories led to nervous movements and frequent awkward moments, including Takato almost dropping the mixing bowl while Rika stirred the Anko.

By the time they were finished and loaded the manjuo into the oven the rest of the room resembled a compost heap of unbaked dough coating everything. As for the two tamers they could have passed themselves off as snowmen being covered from head to toe in flour. Takato was chuckling half-heartedly while Rika scowled, and Guilmon was happily licking batches of bread batter from his claws.

"Heh, well that could have gone better," The gogglehead stated while wiping some of the flour from his shoulder

"Yeah we really are the worst combination for cooking," Rika said running using her fingers to run some water through her hair.

"Hey don't say that it was fun and we did get done," he replied peering at her.

"Yeah I guess," Rika responded simply. Conversations were stopped there as they cleaned up themselves then the room. By the time they were finished so too were the little majuo men in the oven, the only thing left to do was package them then make the deliveries.

"Tamatebako? That's how you plan to deliver these?" Rika asked watching him try to fold the construction paper into the correct shape only to fail miserably.

He nodded once and she let out an indignant huff before gently moving him out of the way then to his shock effortlessly folded the paper into a box within seconds. "Whoa Rika I didn't know you had this kind of skill."

The girl shrugged her shoulders acknowledging the compliment somewhat. "My grandmum taught me; she said Origami was supposed to be relaxing and that I should practice whenever I felt like exploding." Takato's mouth formed an O in understanding. When Rika held up her hand he just stood there looking at it until she became impatient.

"Well come on Gogglehead. If I make the boxes the least you could do is get the contents."

His mind seemed to register her words as he blinked then scrambled all over to follow her command, with the two utilizing this strategy of Rika making the boxes and Takato adding the Manjuo and doing the wrapping they were able to pack the treats in record time. Then both were out the door in a flash trying to deliver the goods before they grew cold. Guilmon wobbled after them though his stomach was too heavy and got in the way. Takato actually had to run back and use a modify card to get the saurian on his feet again then he was off once more, Renamon appeared and the two digimon shared a look with each other in silent conversation.

* * *

Sometime later in the area known as Shinjuku Chou Koen the silhouettes of two running figures could be seen coming up a flight of stairs, the first of those figures to reach the top was a girl with red hair and ponytail. She was panting slightly and had turned to look at her accomplice who was still on the stairs practically suffocating from trying to catch his breath. A few feet behind him lay a dragon like giant red lizard with spirals for eyes and deep snorts for breath.

"C'mon Gogglehead don't tell me you're out of breath already I was just getting warmed up!" Rika yelled while Takato lifted his head up with incredulous eyes.

_This girl's trying to KILL me! H_e thought before saying between shortened breaths. "Sorry... I'm not... In as good shape... as some people."

To that Rika only gave victorious smirk. "Yeah well it's your own fault; I mean it was your idea to have a race."

This was true. After stopping by Kazu, Kenta, and Henry's (whom she had Takato just leave the Tamatebako and move on though somehow Terriermon discovered them from the window and both ended up being bombarded with water balloons.) They tried Jeri next but found out that the trains going to Shibuya would be unavailable for the time being and so Takato had foolishly proposed a race forgetting about Rika's physical prowess leading up to this. She stopped here to pace a few times on the stone steps to let Takato recuperate. "So stop complaining and get over it, you need to toughen up."

"Besides now we're tied." Her words confused him until he remembered the snow fight and the kiss, nervously the gogglehead shuffled around in his pockets. Thankfully he had been able to hide it from Rika and that the jacket he currently wore over his blue one was large enough to hide it from plain sight.

"Um, Rika?" The girl ceased in her internal celebration to notice the seriousness of the boys face, it unnerved her slightly to see him like this.

"What?" That was the question which sealed Takato's decision.

_Okay I can do this. Just take a deep breath and go for it. _

_"_About yesterday..." he started taking that first step forward while Rika took one back.

"What about yesterday?" In the back of her mind Rika could tell this was steering toward an uncomfortable issue but she had her pride and wouldn't back down from whatever he had to say which Takato used to gain a jump start of confidence.

"It's just that I've been thinking about it a little since then." At that moment his voice showed weakness and Rika Pounced on it.

"Well don't. Like I said before it shouldn't have happened." Her back had now brushed against a surface preventing her from keeping the distance between them however she was too preoccupied to notice.

_What am I getting so high-strung for its just Gogglehead,_ she thought, observing his every movement as he continued the trek. That alone though did not give much reassurance especially when the soft smile came to his face.

"I know," he said stepping a bit closer practically within her personal space which caused a warning growl to resound from her throat. Takato swallowed hard knowing he was crossing a line at some point and he wouldn't be surprised if she were to lash at him. Slowly he was getting around her icy perimeters and had come so far, backing down now was something he would not do.

Within her mind Rika found this whole scenario just ridiculous and unnatural Takato wasn't the type to take control of any situation. Yet the fact remained that he had somehow triggered her defenses without even meaning to and she refused to look at him now. Instead she focused on moving away from him however she stopped when she realized that their location held a familiarity to it. It was that same bridge from her dream, peering up she could see that everything was exactly the same way, well except for the color and one other thing.

"I know that it shouldn't have happened but that's why I've been thinking about it," he said having not moved from his spot too busy with shuffling around in his pockets once more. "I don't want to put any wedges in the friendships we have and I definitely don't want some kind of drama to form out of this so." He finished by pulling out whatever was in his pockets and held it up to her in both palms with his head bowed. "Please accept this as my way of asking if you would still be my friend?"

For awhile Rika just stood there incomprehensive until a voice echoed in her head. _Well do you wish to accept or not. _Rika shook a little from her partner's mental voice and tentatively snatched the gift from his grasp. Giving her small thanks then their eyes met. Crimson orbs penetrated her violet hues and her face suddenly felt scorched both of them turned away red in the face as it was an unusual occasion. Then from nowhere Guilmon appeared.

He walked up to his tamer and talked as if the boys face wasn't the same shade as a tomato. "Takatomon can we please grab something to eat now? I'm hungry."

Takato's face could only be described as priceless, after the initial shock wore off their was a cry of "Guilmon!" The moment of silence passed between them before being broken by the sound of a gurgling stomach. Takatos expression scrunched in defeat.

"I can't win can I?" He let out a sigh and continued. "Okay there was a convenience store a little ways back we could get a bite to eat." He turned back to look at the girl still staring at her gift like it was going to sprout legs or something and run away.

"Hey Rika." The proclamation snapped said redhead back to earth as she gave him a quizzical look the gogglehead pointed behind himself with his thumb. "I'm going to get Guilmon something to eat, do you want to tag along." Rika peeked at her present again then looked back at him before she placed the thing in her pocket.

"Sure," was her response. Tugging at her coat she joined him in a walk during which she was half-certain she heard him mumble about needing more allowance.

* * *

The rest of the day passed fairly smoothlythough Guilmon tried to eat out all the stores wares and would have too if both Tamers had not dragged the baby dino out. Dropping by Jeri's had been pleasant if perhaps unnecessarily quiet on the way there and Takato had almost gotten caught standing in the door like an idiot when the girl's father walked by. At least he had enough left over to get them back in Shinjuku where Ai and Mako lived with the rambunctious imp who almost ate it himself. But when it came time to see Ryo Rika simply said they would mail it to him instead later or maybe never.

Of course by the time they returned to their homes it was nearly dark and Rika had yet to open his gift the entire time. She also walked to her house without Takato since his mother had all but yanked his arms off pulling him in; apparently he had taken longer than expected and worried Mie more than he originally thought. Quite the spectacle to behold however it was brought to an eventual end by Takato pretending to suffocate from his mothers embrace and as he turned away to head up to his room Takato paused and turned back to her offering a smile which she unconsciously returned before leaving.

Standing in front of her wooden gate with a gentle wind blowing through her hair she took out the gift once more feeling a sense of irony to be found in the way she had received it, being that he himself once admitted to having dreamed her.

_He would know about having strange dreams, _she thought watching the sides of the wrinkled paper. _Even though I had fun, I can't help but feel like there was something wrong about the whole thing. _However reviewing events in her mind's eye she could find nothing wrong with her day after all it had only been a friendly meeting and her helping him out with something though if she didn't know any better she might have misinterpreted it as something akin to a.

_Date? _Her partner finished within her mind, which nearly caused Rika to drop her gift.

_Whoa, back up just a bit, Renamon. What are you talking about? That's just ridiculous. _

She thought back dismissing the idea completely as just a random thing that popped into her partners head.

The fox for her part did not respond instantly but carefully dragged her thoughts out and transferred them to Rika.

_Forgive me for being so blunt_ _with you. I do not mean to cause discomfort and the idea was more of a joke than anything else but there are some very convincing points. After all you two did eat together, enjoyed each other's company, and participated in friendly competition. As I have learned from observing humans when a male conveys a gift to a female around the holidays it usually symbolizes more than just a normal companionship._

Rika shook her head and scratched at it furiously trying to relieve the strain of thoughts she was having.

_Then_ _you have been obviously misinformed about humans and should know it's nothing like that between me and him, I mean he's a gogglehead. And besides if I ever do get a relationship, which I'm not saying I will, I don't want it to be like one of those sappy romantic fantasies where old friends become a couple._

_Would that include Ryo? _Her partner asked before appearing on one of the tree branches to gauge Rika's reaction for herself.

Rika simply scoffed.

"Yeah right as if I'd ever go out with that pompous egomaniac." She then looked back at her gift and sighed. "Well since he already went to the trouble of getting this for me the least I could do is see what it is already."

She did not open it as carefully as she had done before but she did manage to keep the ribbon intact and remove the card before she began taking the rest apart. When the box was open she carefully reached inside and pulled out something she never would have expected to see.

At first she could not tell what it was other than it was round, silver toned, and had various markings such as Kitsunes and half-moons chasing the sun, it even held a mandala or two on its surface but other than that she could not place a name for it. Holding it in one hand she looked at the intricately carved and darkly colored shapes card into it. _Maybe it's some kind of decoration, it does look like one of those round things people hang on their trees but why would Takato give me something like that? _

She decided to take another look at the card and see if there was anything to help her with this, underneath the drawn picture of her the text was familiar as it read:

_Expecting a little more?_

_Well here's something I got just for you._

_Happy holidays to you with a warm greeting, Rika._

Yet below that text there was a long sentence that read:

_You're probably wondering what this thing is, right? Well the owner of the store where I found it said it was called a Scribe Chain, he also said that if a piece of paper was attached to it and given to someone whom you wanted to be friends with then it would grant that desire. I know that sounds like some sort of cliché mumbo jumbo and that you'll probably scold me for wasting my time and money on something like this later. Heh, I'm probably rambling again right well I guess that means I'm about as good at writing things as I am saying them. Rika, I don't know what becomes of the future and I won't pretend to know. But if the impossible were to happen, well then this is about the most romantic I can get._

_Well, now that I've got that off my chest I have nothing else to say except that I hope we can always be friends._

When she finished reading Rika read it again to be sure she hadn't missed anything then holding the Scribe Chain in her other hand she gently held it up and observed the surface, against the glow from the still melting snow the orb was bathed in more light than any star to her. And the black markings on some of the carvings only made it seem even more beautiful to her eyes.

"Takato you dork," she whispered with a pleasant smile on her face. Sometimes Takato worried about others too much for his own good, though she wouldn't complain about it. Indeed at the moment she was feeling very odd about the whole thing as her heart had started pounding and a light giddy sensation rose from somewhere buried in her chest almost as though she was happy. Ignoring the questions her partner was asking about what she had read Rika opened her pocket and dropped the Scribe Chain in strangely she felt as though she were carrying a snowball around.

_A pocket of Snow, huh? _She thought opening the gate and walked up to her front sliding door, maybe tomorrow she would give him her own answer but for now all she felt like doing was be with her own family, maybe that modeling guy was gone by now or her mother might be calling the police to look for her being as late as it was. With one hand on the handle she briefly contemplated how life like the seasons was bound to change but before she could go into anything deep or meaningful she decided to just put those kinds of thoughts on hold for now.

After all she had all the time in the world to prepare for whatever life threw her way.

* * *

**Okay well that's the end of the story, to all those who waited for me to complete this I am so sorry. I promise to make it up to you all and I would also like to make an apology for a mistake I made last chapter, the park where Guilmon lives is not the Gyoen but the Chuo Koen, my bad. Anyways if you were confused by anything here are some helpful meanings to some of the terms used within this chapter:**

**Tamatebako- Gift box**

**Suzaku Manjou- steamed bun like cakes popular in kyoto**

**Anko- sweet bean paste**

**Shiratori- white bird**

**Tamatebako- Little origmai boxes people put small treats into and give to one another.**

**Shuyo- Soy**

**Roku Jizou- the six guardian deities who watch over children and deliver presents, the six stands for the six ways of transmigrating the soul**

**Scribe Chain- I'm not making this one up, though technically that isn't the exact name people call it, just a tag name people tend to associate it with because of how similar it is to chain mail. What a scribe chain actually is would be a Papier-mâché** **ball with various notes attached to it by different people, each of which is closed and marked with a special sign changed a little every time a new note is attached by the same person so people will be able to tell which ones are old or new. Anyways the purpose of a scribe chain is to leave secret messages between friends or members of a club, there is even a game where you add notes to try and see how large it can get before some adult figure notices what the person leaving notes on it is doing and catches you. It's very popular in some schools though you have to be careful not to make a note of anything like insults or something the Teacher can be offended by usually is just gibberish.**

**Anko, Shiratori, Manjuo, and Roku Jizou are all terms that have been used in anime like Digimon. **

**Roku Jizou is from Shaman King.**


End file.
